South Side chase ends with flat tire, man's arrest, 2 officers hurt

Police photo

Allen Tate

Allen Tate (Police photo)

Rosemary R. SobolTribune reporter

A man was charged and two Chicago police officers hospitalized after a car and foot chase late Saturday that started with the man firing shots in the Bridgeport neighborhood and ended when his car got a flat on the Far South Side.

No one was shot and Tate got behind the wheel of a black Chevrolet Impala and drove away. Responding Chicago police officers spotted the car at 31st Street and Wentworth Avenue, where they tried to pull it over, but Tate refused and the pursuit began, the officer said.

The chase continued south, with Tate jumping "off and on" on the Dan Ryan Expressway and I-57, which he finally exited at 127th Street, and headed eastbound, said Perez.

It was the car that finally stopped him, when it got a flat tire at 131st Street and Indiana Avenue, in the Eden Green neighborhood, about 22 miles from where the chase began.

"He exited his vehicle rapidly and tried to run away up an embankment where some tracks are," Perez said.

Two police officers were injured chasing after him on foot, one while running up the hill and the other after Tate punched the officer, Perez said. Both officers have been released from Rush University Medical Center, the officer said.

Tate, 42, of the 7400 block of S. South Shore Drive, was finally taken into custody at 11:51 p.m. and charged with aggravated battery to a police officer, aggravated fleeing and eluding police, and misdemeanor resisting arrest, Perez said.

The car was impounded and a gun was not recovered, said Perez. Tate was expected in court today.